Narcissa obeyed her father's wishes and came downstairs for lunch, but she was not prepared for the deathly glare she got from her oldest sister when they met in the entryway. They locked eyes for a moment.

"So, they decided to let you out," Bellatrix observed.

"Yeah," Narcissa replied.

"Yeah?" she mocked her. "Yeah? I didn't know the word 'yeah' was in your vocabulary."

Narcissa frowned. "Well, it is."

"Just full of fun little secrets like that, aren't you?" Bellatrix replied.

Her little sister's cheeks grew pink. "Stop it, Bella."

She uncrossed her arms and took a step closer. "No, I won't stop it! How could you have let this happen?"

"What do you mean, 'let this happen'? How is any of this my fault?"

"It never occurred to you that maybe you should step in, seeing as your sister was first dating a Hufflepuff, then sleeping with a Hufflepuff, and then pregnant?!"

Narcissa came down off the stairs. "What are you going on about, Bella? You're talking as if you didn't make the rounds when you were at Hogwarts!"

Bellatrix flushed, and grabbed her sister's arm. "Keep your voice down!" she whispered angrily. She glanced toward the parlor, but no one seemed to have taken notice of them. She pulled her sister farther down the hall, away from their parents' vicinity.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Bella hissed, once they were a safe distance away. "I never shagged a Hufflepuff, not once!"

"I know for a fact that you shagged Everett Prewett after the Quidditch Finals my second year."

It was all Bella could do to keep from shaking her little sister. "Everett was in Ravenclaw, first of all, and I was well aware that he was pureblood, and besides that, it was one time! And, I didn't let myself get pregnant!"

Narcissa was shaking her head. "Bella, by the time she told me anything, it was too late! What was I supposed to do?"

"At the very least, you could have told me!" she responded in a harsh whisper.

"That wouldn't have made a difference!" Narcissa responded in kind.

"How do you know?" she demanded.

"Girls."

They both flinched and looked over at their mother, who was standing at the end of the hall.

"Come sit down for lunch." She turned and headed back toward the dining room.

Bellatrix gave her sister a nasty look before abruptly turning and following their mother.

"Cissy, are you sure you won't have another sandwich? You look awfully pale," Druella urged, offering her the plate of tea sandwiches.

"Yes, mum, I'm sure," she insisted for the third time. She sipped her tea quietly, letting Bella and their mother take care of the conversation. Cygnus, too, was quiet, and she wondered what he was thinking. Probably what they all must be thinking: that it was strange without Anny here.

Bellatrix finished off her tea, set the cup and saucer aside, and stood abruptly. "All right, I'm off."

Cygnus seemed to jolt out of his daze and looked up at her. "Where to?"

Bella straightened her skirt and answered candidly: "Training with Evan. The Dark Lord has asked us to hone our dueling skills." Her gaze was uncompromising, and their father put forth no argument. Bella looked toward Narcissa for an instant but there was no warmth in the glance. Her older sister turned immediately and walked toward the door. "I should be home for supper," she tossed over her shoulder as she left.

An uncomfortable silence fell over the room. Narcissa focused her attention on finishing her cup of tea, doing her best to ignore the silent exchange that was happening between her parents.

"Narcissa, there is something we need to discuss with you," her father said.

Just as she had suspected. Still, the tight ball of anxiety tensed in her stomach again. "Is there?" she replied meekly, glancing between two of them.

Druella looked at her husband before chiming in. "We're concerned about you, Cissy. Before ...your estranged sister chose to leave, the entire situation was discussed at length, and part of that discussion pertained to you. It's very important that we understand your involvement in all of this."

"You're saying you questioned Anny about me?" Narcissa asked in surprise.

"Yes, we did, Narcissa," her father said calmly. "And if we are to believe everything she said, you have not been entirely forthcoming with us."

The pit of her stomach dropped again. "I'm not sure what you're referring to."

Cygnus stood up and moved to lean on the back of his chair. "The explanation of events you gave me this morning is true, I'm sure, but it was incomplete. Now is your opportunity to tell the truth, Narcissa. I know this is difficult; I understand that it is scary and humiliating and all the rest of it, but I promise you that this is the most serious conversation you have ever had in your entire life. You would do well to be utterly and completely honest with us." Her father's expression was deadly serious. "Is there anything you would like to add to your account of events?"

Narcissa's face flushed brighter. Of course she knew things about Anny that she hadn't told them; she knew things about both her sisters that she'd never dream of telling their parents. The question was, what did they know?

Druella leaned in slightly. "For instance, you might tell us if you had any suspicions as to who had caused Andromeda's... condition," she prompted quietly.

She swallowed thickly, looking at her mother, then glancing again to her father. "I didn't know for sure," she insisted. "What she told me was that she didn't know."

Her parents stared silently. "I mean, I knew she'd been seeing a boy on the Slytherin Quidditch team, but.. well I did know that she'd been spending a lot of time with... you know..." she trailed off, absolutely derailed. She couldn't lie to her parents.

"We know? No we don't, Narcissa. Who else?" Cygnus spoke firmly, but not harshly.

She shook her head miserably. "...The Hufflepuff boy." She buried her face in her hands for a moment, before continuing. "But I didn't know for sure how serious she was with either of them, it's not as though we shared a dormitory, and in any case why would she not be careful to prevent something like this?"

Druella's expression was one of confusion and concern. "Narcissa Black, you knew about this Hufflepuff boy and didn't even pause to think that perhaps you ought to let us know about him?"

Narcissa became defensive. "I'm supposed run and tell tales to my mother every time my sister has a new fling?"

Her mother's eyes widened. "When it's with a person of objectionable qualities, yes!"

"It wasn't my secret to tell, Mum!" Narcissa argued heatedly.

Druella shook her head in disbelief. "It should not have been kept a secret at all. If your sister forgot the important values with which she was brought up, it was your duty to this family to make sure she was set back on track!"

"I had no idea she was being careless, Mum! If I'd known there was a chance that her affair would result in all this, of course I would have tried to stop her!"

Cygnus cut in. "What I find troubling is your casual acceptance of all this loose behavior, young lady. The entire situation became unendurable the moment the possibility of conceiving a child came to be! I find it difficult to comprehend how my sweet little girl came to embrace such debauchery."

"Daddy!" she exclaimed, thoroughly humiliated. Now he thought she was some kind of wanton? The unfairness of throwing of her sister's sins upon her character made tears leap to her eyes. "It's Anny we're talking about, not me! I behave nothing like her! I haven't, I've never- I've never done anything!" she practically whispered. "I swear on my life."

"I should certainly hope not!" he declared indignantly.

Her parents took a moment to breathe, and it was clear that the last bit of information had been a great relief to them.

Cygnus walked over behind his wife and patted her shoulder before continuing. "This has been a very difficult situation for you, Cissy; we understand that. But we're very concerned. The judgement you have demonstrated has been shaky at best."

Narcissa nodded, folding her hands in her lap. The situation had been handled poorly. She should have known it was Ted Tonk's child. Everything pointed to it, and she had turned a blind eye because she didn't want to believe it.

"That being said, we want to do everything we can to protect your reputation. You're all grown up, Cissy, and we don't want to worry about you."

Oh. So that's what all of this was leading up to. She knew what was coming, and decided not to draw it out any longer. "You want me to get married," she stated with some certainty.

"Yes, we do," Druella confirmed. "To a respectable, pureblooded wizard who will be able to help guide you through difficult times such as these."

Narcissa bristled inwardly at the suggestion that she could not think for herself, but did not comment. What they were saying was not anything she hadn't expected them to say within the next year anyway. She came of age in November, and marriage was the next step expected of her after graduation, so the time to begin thinking about a formal courtship was now. They constantly hounded Bellatrix about her lack of a husband. "You have no cause to worry where that is concerned, Mum; or you, Daddy. Any man I consent to marry will live up to the standards you expect," she said dutifully.

Her perfect response did not have the soothing effect on her parents that she had intended. Druella shifted uncomfortably. Cygnus crossed his arms, frowning. "Given the turbulent state of things at the moment, we felt it prudent to be decisive on your behalf, Narcissa."

She blinked. "What are you saying?"

Her father's voice deepened. "Your marriage has been arranged."

No. He had not just said that, had he? Narcissa looked to her mother, who sat with her eyes cast downward, and back up to her father. Had she heard him correctly? Judging by their reactions, she must have. "I'm sorry, what did you say?" She rose to her feet, shaking. So this is what they had been doing for the past four days while she'd been abandoned in her room?

"I will not be spoken to in that tone, Narcissa Black," Cygnus warned her.

"I'm sorry," she said again, "But did we just travel back in time about a hundred years? How could you, without even asking me my opinion?" Her voice was very shrill and she did not even care.

"Your questionable judgement was the catalyst for this, my daughter, so having your opinion would not have been advantageous," he thundered. "Everything has been decided. You will marry once you come of age this winter to protect you from scandal and prevent any further missteps on your part."

"This winter? But I'll still be at school! I'll still be in sixth year!" She shook her head furiously. "And who, pray tell, have you decided I'll marry?"

Cygnus drew himself up and looked down at her sternly. "Lycus Lestrange's oldest son, Rodolphus."

No. It was the only intelligible thought she had. No. Not Rodolphus Lestrange.

"Lycus is an old friend, and his family is of unquestionable blood lineage."

Narcissa realized that she'd clapped her hands over her mouth, and chose to keep them there, given her sudden wave of nausea. Carefully, she opened her mouth to speak, lifting her hands away only slightly, and produced a voice she barely recognized. "You can't be serious, Daddy."

"You can have no objection to him, Narcissa. He is everything an eligible young man should be," he lectured. "His priorities are in line, his beliefs are sound, he comes from a respected family, he is of a good age to marry..."

"He's... he's so much older than me!" she cried, clenching her hands.

"He's only just twenty-three, Cissy," Druella pointed out calmly.

"I don't care!" she shrilled, pacing away from the sitting area. "He's cold and awful. He's a brute! He's horrible, and I can't, I can't," she ended, hugging herself tightly. She was panicking now.

"Rodolphus is a serious young man. He is devoted to the pure-blood cause, and he takes his duty to heart. He's steady. He'll be good for you," Druella told her firmly.

"No, mum, he won't!" Narcissa was in tears. "I won't do it. I won't marry him!"

"You will do your duty to this family."

"Not like this! Not without my consent, not to a person I don't even know, not when I haven't had a chance to make up my own mind that I'm ready..."

"All of that is within your control. Agree. Get to know him. Make up your mind," Cygnus said unsympathetically.

"It doesn't work like that!" she retorted angrily.

"It certainly does. And I'll tell you another thing, Cissy - if you think you're going back to school without a formal engagement, you're wrong. There's no way I'll allow you anywhere near that cesspool of depravity unless you are officially off the market."

"DADDY!"

"I don't mean to be indelicate, but clearly you consider yourself worldly enough to handle these topics!"

"Nothing will change for now," Druella inserted gently, steering the conversation away from where it was headed. "Except that you'll be able to actually focus on your schoolwork, with no distractions."

Narcissa swung around to look at her mother. "Except for the looming distraction of my forced marriage." She approached her, quickly zeroing in on the little bit of sympathy she'd heard in her voice. "Mum, please. Think about it from my perspective. This isn't a fair punishment; not even a little bit! It's a gross overreaction to what I've done."

Druella frowned. "We are doing this to protect you, not to punish you."

"Protect me? From what? I don't need protecting!"

"Cissy, you are at an age now where a momentary lapse in judgement could change the course of your life. It's not fair to you to put you into a vulnerable position like that. We need to protect your reputation."

Narcissa swallowed back a sob. "But I'm not... I've never done anything to... You're treating me like I'm the one who's pregnant!"

"No, we're not," Cygnus responded darkly.

She turned to her father, and approached him desperately. "Please, Daddy," she begged, taking his hands, "I know I have to make a good match; I know that's what's expected of me. Just please not him." She took a shaky breath. "I'll do whatever you want. I'll be obedient; I'll marry in December like you want; I won't so much as shake hands with a man until I'm married, just please let me consider someone else. Please."

"I don't think you've grasped the situation, child." He squeezed her hands. "The family name will be dragged through the mud. We had to act quickly. There is a good chance that many of the young men who would have vied for your hand will no longer be interested."

Narcissa felt the color wash out of her face. "In other words, you promised me to the first man who would have me."

"Narcissa -"

"Don't." She pulled away from him and quickly moved for the door.

"Narcissa Black, you will not leave this room until you've been given permission to do so!" her father shouted.

She shook her head, hesitating for only a moment. "I need air," she choked out. She escaped the room and bolted down the hall toward the large French doors that led outside.

Rodolphus Lestrange. Of all the eligible pure-blooded young men, they had settled for brooding, silent, terrifying Rodolphus Lestrange.

She still felt as if she couldn't breathe. She stumbled down the garden path and headed for a small grove of trees - her favorite place to be alone. On a usual day she would have brought a blanket and a book, but in these circumstances she collapsed directly onto the dank ground.

So, her punishment for keeping a secret from her parents was a lifetime of wedlock to the least-likely candidate for her hand. Oh, her father and Lycus Lestrange had always been chummy, but the Lestrange boys had not ever seemed interested in getting to know her or her sisters when they were growing up. Bella and he were friends now that they both spent their waking hours practicing the Dark Arts and terrorizing Muggles at the behest of Lord Voldemort, but the few times he had been around Narcissa had only confirmed her opinion that he was terrifying. She pictured his stern, cruel features in her mind and shivered.

Rodolphus Lestrange. Her husband. Tears rolled down her cheeks, thick and hot. How could they be so unfair? So cruel? She had never even had a boyfriend, and now she was engaged. At sixteen. To a twenty-three-year-old monster.

Narcissa was not one to disobey her parents. She sought to please them in every aspect of her life. But this... She had to disobey them. They were giving her no choice. If they had made any kind of reasonable request she would have complied, but to marry Rodolphus? She was going to have to run away. Or become a shut-in. Stay locked in her room for the rest of her life; never finish school. She wasn't of age, there wasn't anyone she could run to for protection.

Or she could let them control her. Marry Rodolphus. Finish the last year-and-a-half of school as a married woman. Bear children with dark hair and dark, brooding eyes. Never experience love.

Narcissa curled herself into a ball.

"Cissy?"

It was late. Bellatrix poked her head in the door of her sister's bedroom. It was dim, but the bedside lamp was on.

"You alive in here?" she asked roughly.

"Go away," Narcissa's voice floated up from beneath her comforter.

"Mum sent me up here. She's worried you're in here killing yourself, or something," Bella said without any sensitivity.

No response came, only more sniffles. Bellatrix rolled her eyes, but came further into the room, toward the bed. "What's your problem? You've still got one perfectly good sister left."

"Shut up, Bella; just go away," her younger sister cried.

The older witch considered it for a moment, but ambled over to her sister instead. "I will if you quit crying. Mum said you've been 'inconsolable' ever since lunch."

Narcissa scoffed. Her back was to Bellatrix. "Don't talk to me about Mum. I'm never speaking to her again."

Bella planted her hands on her hips. "Why?"

"Because if she actually cared about me, she'd never have let Daddy agree to this!"

It suddenly dawned on Bellatrix that her mother had sent her into this situation completely blind. "Cissy, what are you talking about? What did he agree to?"

"They're making me get married," she said tearfully.

Bellatrix furrowed her brow. "Well Cissy, they've always been clear about what they expected of us..."

"Don't be dense, Bella!" Narcissa suddenly turned over and sat up in bed. "They've planned the whole thing out for me, behind my back!"

"...What?" Bellatrix sputtered. "You mean they picked someone out for you?"

Narcissa nodded her head emphatically, as if the answer was too ridiculous to even speak aloud. "And they chose Rodolphus," she finally sobbed.

"Rodolphus Lestrange?" Bella clarified in disbelief. "But he's older than I am."

"I know!" she cried, throwing her hands upward in a gesture of complete frustration.

"Have you ever even spoken to him?"

She shook her head. "Once or twice maybe, only to say hello or goodbye when he was at a party or somewhere." She sobbed again, and covered her face with her hands.

"Does he know about this?"

Narcissa looked up at her anxiously. "I assumed so, but who knows? It could have been entirely decided by Daddy and Mr. Lestrange." She looked particularly horrified at this idea. "Oh Merlin, maybe he didn't even agree..."

As Bellatrix watched her little sister dissolve into tears again, she felt a new flame of anger rise in her chest. Up until now she'd been harsh on Cissy, but really this was all Andromeda's fault. That selfish little bitch hadn't even considered what consequences there would be for her family. Or maybe she had. Maybe she just hadn't cared.

Bella sat on the bed and put her arm around her sister. "This whole thing's crazy, Cissy. They can't make you two get married."

"What's my other choice? To end up excommunicated like Anny?"

Bellatrix cringed at the mere mention of their sister. "They wouldn't. You haven't done anything like what she's done."

"According to them, I'm an accomplice." Narcissa wiped her face.

Bella shook her head slowly, thinking. "You can sort it out," she said confidently. "There's time. You still have to finish school..."

"No," Narcissa cut her off. "They're not letting me."

Bellatrix stared at her blankly. "What do you mean, they're not letting you?"

"As soon as I turn seventeen, they're making us get married."

Bellatrix was stunned. This was all too strange for her to wrap her head around. "So, you turn seventeen at the end of November."

Narcissa nodded. "Right before Christmas break."

"And then, that's it? You're not going to finish?"

"I don't know!" she cried. "I don't know what's going to happen. I guess that will be up to him..."

Bellatrix shook her head. "Who, Rodolphus? Don't be stupid. Of course you'll go back to school; you have to graduate. You'd be married, not enslaved. And if for some reason Roddie got any ideas otherwise, I'd hex some sense into him."

Narcissa tried to smile, but she was crying too hard to make it believable.

"It's just not fair," she whispered, wiping at her eyes.

"No, it's not," Bellatrix agreed.

She puzzled it out for a long moment. Cissy was in school, her future was uncertain - that's why they were coming after her with an engagement. She, on the other hand, was serving the Dark Lord - and would be, for the foreseeable future. Her loyalty to her blood was established and resolute.

"They'll come around," Bellatrix said firmly. "They're worked up right now; give it a few weeks and it will all die down. They'll have to see reason."